ship might frighten the survivors, if there are any.”
Chen made an untranslatable noise and said, “Whacking the hull with a
sledgehammer would have been even better.”
“Sorry,” Cha Thrat said.
Two of the small panels concealed retractable lighting fixtures and the
remaining one turned out to be a large rocker switch set flush with the hull
plating. Fletcher warned them to stand clear, then pressed with its palm on both
ends of the switch in turn. It had to press very hard, so hard that it had
pushed its leg and arm magnets away from the hull, before anything happened.
A sudden rush of air from the edge of the slowly opening hatch sent Fletcher
spinning away. Cha Thrat, who had the advantage of four foot-magnets holding her
down, grabbed it by one leg and brought the Captain into contact with the hull
again.
“Thank you,” Fletcher said, as the fog of escaping air cleared, then went on.
“Everyone inside. Doctor Prilicia, come quickly. The opening of the lock is sure
to register on their control deck. If there are any survivors up there, now is
the most likely time for them to get nervous and apply thrust…”
“There are survivors, friend Fletcher,” the empath broke in. “One of them is
forward, probably on the control deck, and several groups of them’ farther aft,
but none in your immediate area. Out here I am too far from the sources to be
able to detect individual emotional radiation, but the predominant feelings are
of fear, pain, and anger. It is the intensity of the anger that worries me,
friend Fletcher, so go carefully. I am returning to Rhabwar for the rest of the
medical team.”
With the scanner they were able to identify and trace the actuator wiring to a
set of two rocker switches. The first one was locked in position, and when they
pressed the second, the lock’s outer seal closed behind them, after which the
first one moved freely and opened the inner seal, simultaneously turning on the
lighting.
Fletcher said a few words for the recorders about the intense greenish-yellow
lighting that would, on later analysis, give useful information about the crew’s
visual organs and an indication of the type and proximity of their sun to the
home planet. Then it led the way from the lock chamber into the corridor.
“The corridor is about four meters high, square in cross-section, well lit,
unpainted, and gravity-free,” the Captain went on. “We assume an artificial
gravity system, currently malfunctioning or possibly switched off, because the
inner surfaces are bare of ladders, climbing nets, or handholds that the crew
would need to get about in the weightless condition. At this level the section
of corridor visible to us follows the lateral curvature of theinner hull, and
opposite the lock entrance there is a wide opening through which we can see two
ramps, one ascending and the other descending, which lead, presumably, to other
decks. We are taking the ascending one.”
Consulting the analyzer strapped to its arm, the Captain went on. “Nothing toxic
in the air, pressure low but still breathable, temperature normal. Open your
visors so we can talk together without tying up the suit frequencies.”
Fletcher and Chen launched themselves into the air above the ascending ramp.
Less expertly, Cha Thrat did likewise and was halfway to the top when the others
arrived—and dropped suddenly onto the deck with a muffled crash of equipment and
a much less quiet burst of strong language. She had enough warning to be able to
land on her feet.
“The artificial gravity system,” the Captain said, when it had picked itself up
again, “is still operating in this area. Move quickly, please, we’re looking for
survivors.”
Large inward-opening doors with simple latch fastenings lined the corridor, and
under Fletcher’s direction, the search became a routine process. First unlatch
the door, push it wide open while standing well back in case something nasty
came through it, then search the compartment quickly for crew members. But the
compartments held only racks of equipment or containers of various shapes and
sizes whose labels they could not read, and nothing that in any way resembled